Setting SAIL in the agri-food sector

NTU Singapore, in partnership with Enterprise Singapore (ESG), today launched the Singapore Agri-Food Innovation Lab (SAIL) that aims to accelerate innovation and reap the growing economic opportunities in the agri-food sector. Witnessed by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry and NTU President Professor Subra Suresh, NTU and ESG have inked a collaboration agreement to officially launch SAIL, which will serve as a national platform that seeds partnerships between SAIL’s corporate partners, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, research institutes and institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to drive agri-food innovations.

Businesses can look forward to a range of business matching and co-innovation activities. SAIL will work with agri-food corporates to establish their problem statements, identify partnership opportunities to find solutions, and organise knowledge-sharing sessions to match demand drivers and solution providers.

As part of the collaboration with NTU, ESG will leverage its extensive business network to connect SAIL with agri-commodity corporates as well as local agri-tech and food-tech SMEs and startups. The first batch of Agri-food corporates that will be collaborating with SAIL include Agrex Asia, Apeiron AgroCommodities, Apical Group, Bountifood, Bunge, Cargill, Co-Laboratory, Cocoa Association of Asia, Dole International, First Resources, Float Foods, Golden Agri-Resources, IFFCO, International Rubber Study Group, Intersnack, Louis Dreyfus Company, N & E Innovations, Singapore Coffee Association, Shiok Meats, Sophie’s Bionutrients, Sumifru, and The Good Food Institute APAC.

SAIL’s objectives are aligned with NTU’s recently launched Sustainability Manifesto, which aims to propel the University’s wide-ranging efforts in sustainability over the next 15 years and solidify its position as a leader in sustainability, which includes forging close ties with industry partners that are committed to joining NTU’s sustainability journey.